Our Ship
by Velocity3127
Summary: Raura's the ship name for Ross and Laura, everyone knows that. So what happens when Ross and Laura, also known as Raura, go to promote Austin & Ally...on a cruise ship called Raura? Bad summary, but I promise the story is better:)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: When I was little, I used to be randomly obsessed with cruise ships. No idea why, but I was. So I remembered that recently, and then I randomly thought of Raura. The result: a Raura fanfic about a cruise ship. Yep, sounds crazy, and I don't know what's going to happen and it might be terrible, but I think it's hilarious.**

 **The setting of this is right after season 2 filming (so this replaces Rauraustralia - which was awesome, by the way, so nothing against that).**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

 **Laura's house**

"Hey, Ross, what's up?"

He called me on the phone that morning, the Sunday before we had to go back to film the season 2 finale of Austin & Ally.

"Hey, Laura, so I just wanted to tell you...this sounds really weird, okay," he said.

"What is it?" I asked, laughing.

"Well, a whole bunch of our fans got us...a cruise ship? Yeah, sounds crazy."

"A cruise ship?" I repeated, disbelieving.

"Yeah, it sounds crazy." he laughed. "But you know...because people ship us...they want us to date, and it's a cruise _ship_ , oh, and by the way, the ship's called Raura."

"Yeah, I know, people ship us and they call us Raura."

"No, I mean, the cruise ship's called _Raura._ " he explained. They got the ship in collaboration with Disney. Crazy, huh?"

"Our fans got a cruise ship in collaboration with Disney?" I repeated, still disbelieving.

"Yeah, it's kind of insane!" he laughed. "Anyways...Kevin sent us an email with full details about the ship. You should check it out! It's really cool!"

"Okay, but what does this have anything to do with us?" I asked. "I mean, other than the fact that the ship is literally our ship name..."

He didn't answer for a little bit. "I have no idea," he finally said.

We laughed for the next five minutes, until Vanessa came into my room and asked what all the noise was about.

* * *

 **The next day**

 **The set of Austin & Ally**

"Okay, so I need to talk to you two about something." Kevin said.

It was our break on Monday, since Raini was practicing her parts when Trish was on the phone as a manager. She also had to talk to the wardrobe crew. Kevin pulled me and Ross aside to talk to us, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was about.

"So you two got my email, right?"

We both nodded.

"So it might seem weird, but yes, there is a cruise ship that has been built with your names on it." he confirmed. "And this season is about to wrap, but I'm pretty sure both of you have assumed that a third season is indeed in out future."

I smiled at the confirmation. I knew we couldn't end the show at two seasons, but hearing that from our executive producer made it official.

"And during the time off, we were hoping that you two could help promote the show." Kevin said. "So, we were planning that you two could go on the inaugural sailing of Disney's newest cruise ship!"

"Really?" Ross exclaimed. "That sounds so fun!"

"Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to, but Ross, it looks like you definitely do." Kevin laughed. "Laura, what about you?"

"That would be awesome!" I replied. "Although...I'll have to check with my parents. They'll probably agree, but I've never really been overseas without them...only within the country."

"Oh yeah, I'll have to ask my parents, too." Ross said. "They'll probably agree. R5 will just have to wait! I can see my siblings any time."

My heart skipped a beat at his words. I knew how important his band was to him, and hearing him say that he was willing to sacrifice that for promoting Austin & Ally really made me feel special.

"Alright, just email me to confirm that you're coming, and I'll send you the details soon." Kevin said. "Now, let's get back to rehearsals!"

"This is going to be so fun!" Ross exclaimed as we walked down the hallway. "A week on a cruise vacation in the Caribbean without Rocky around!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "You know, it's not a vacation. We're supposed to promote the show! It's just work!"

"It's a work vacation!" he laughed. "Either way, it'll be fun!"

I couldn't argue with that. It _would_ be fun. A week on a cruise in the Caribbean with Ross! We were just friends, no matter how much people wanted us together, but that didn't mean that we didn't have fun together!

"We'll do photoshoots, interviews, meet fans, _and_ it's all on a giant boat! How cool is that?" he exclaimed.

I laughed at his enthusiasm. Sometimes he wasn't much different from Austin, and I liked that. It meant that Austin was really genuine.

"Don't you think it's weird that our fans got us a _ship_?" I asked.

"Well, then our fans are weird." he laughed. "I think it's cool that they're so dedicated! How did they even get the money? Doesn't it take a bazillion dollars to build a cruise ship?"

"Well, they made it in collaboration with Disney, so Disney was probably just building a ship already, and our fans paid to get it named after us." I suggested. "Still, though, there must've been a lot of them involved."

* * *

 **Several hours later**

 **Raini's POV**

"Yeah! A ship!" Calum exclaimed. "A cruise ship!"

We were walking down the hallway, ready to go home after work, as he was explaining to me how all the Raura fans managed to get a Disney cruise ship named _Raura_. Since it's a ship.

"But how did they get the money?" I exclaimed.

"Well, they started a funding page online." he explained. "And there were a lot of fans who all contributed. Obviously, I helped out, too."

"You helped to name a cruise ship after Ross and Laura?" I exclaimed. "That's cool and all, but why?"

"Well, they're such a cute couple! I totally ship Raura, plus, I'm a famous actor! I have money." he told me. "Oh, and you know Dove Cameron? From that new show next door, Liv and Maddie?"

"Yeah, I talked to her this morning, what about her?" I asked.

"Well, she totally ships them, too, and she helped with the funding." he explained. "And I may or may not have convinced a bunch of other people to help out. And Ross's siblings and Ellington helped out, too. So did Vanessa."

I laughed. It was really funny how Ross and Laura's entire families wanted them together. They were such a cute couple, though, so I couldn't blame them.

"Hey guys!" Laura exclaimed, running up to us after exiting her dressing room.

"Hey, Laura!" Calum and I said together.

"So, I heard that you and Ross have a cruise ship named after your ship name, huh?" I said.

"Yeah," she replied, "it's kind of weird, and kind of cool at the same time! We're actually going on the inaugural sailing of the ship during our time off before we start filming season 3."

"Yes! We got a third season!" Calum exclaimed.

We all knew that there would be a third season, but there was really no official announcement. Calum was just getting excited.

"Wait, you and Ross are sailing on the _Raura_ ship?" I asked.

She blushed a light pink. "Don't put it that way! We're just promoting the show, that's all. And we just happen to be going on the cruise ship named after us. Wow, that's actually really weird. We have a cruise ship named after us."

"Either way, it's going to be so romantic!" Calum exclaimed.

"Seriously, Calum, were just friends!" Laura objected. "I know you want us together, but that's not even hypothetically possible because we're working together on the show!"

"Excuses, excuses." Calum scoffed. "Seriously, Laura, if you like him, just tell him! I'm 100% sure that he likes you, too."

"Stop it, Calum!" she exclaimed, blushing a dark red now. "Be reasonable. We're just friends! And you know that!"

"Calum, come on, stop bothering her." I interrupted. I know that Laura likes Ross, but if she doesn't want to admit it now, Calum shouldn't be annoying about it.

"Alright, well, I'm going home now." Calum told us, turning around to walk down the hallway.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief as we watched him walk away.

"Oh, and Laura?" he added, almost out of sight. " _Just friends_ don't _want_ to kiss, even when the directors say you don't have to."

Neither I nor Laura could respond to his reference of the previous week's heated episode before he dashed down the other hallway, completely out of sight. Not that Laura would have been able to respond, as she was spluttering and unable to form words.

"Don't listen to him, I know you just want to be friends." I said. "But if you _do_ like Ross, you should probably say something."

"Thanks, Raini." she sighed. "Calum's my friend and I love him with all my heart, but he can get exhausting."

I laughed, knowing exactly what she meant. Calum could be really exhausting to be around! Especially since when everyone's tired, he's energetic!

"But Laura, tell me one thing," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Why _did_ you suggest kissing Ross for real, even when you didn't have to?"

She shook her head and turned red again. "It just wasn't working, you know? The whole scene, I mean. We needed to change something, and it was getting really awkward between me and Ross, since we kind of just had to stand with our faces like an inch apart but not actually do anything. Plus, I kind of...wanted to."

"Oh my gosh, Laura, really?" I screamed. "Really?"

"Raini! Keep it down!" she whisper-yelled. "That's not what I meant! I meant...like, I wanted to see what it was like to kiss someone."

"That was your first kiss?" I exclaimed.

"Shh!" she whispered. "And...yes, okay! It doesn't mean anything! You know it doesn't!"

"Does Ross know?" I whisper-yelled back.

"Does Ross know what?"

We spun around to see none other than Ross Lynch standing right behind us. Laura jumped a little.

"Ross!" she exclaimed. "How long have you been behind us?"

"I just walked up here, I literally just heard Raini say, 'Does Ross know?'" he replied.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It would've made for an awkward conversation if he had heard what we were talking about before.

"So, what do I know?" Ross asked. "Or what don't I know?"

"Um..." I mumbled.

"You don't know that..." Laura tried to come up with something. "That my parents are cool with me going on the cruise!"

"Really? Awesome!" he exclaimed. "I can't wait!"

* * *

 **An hour later**

 **Laura's POV**

 **Laura's house**

"So, mom, dad..." I said. "Are you okay with that? It's only a week. Plus, I'm promoting the show!"

If they said no, I would somehow have to tell Ross. Why did I already say that I had permission to go?

"Well, it's all the way on the other side of the country, and you've never been overseas by yourself," my mom said.

"It's not that far! It's just a Caribbean cruise!" I exclaimed.

"Laura, what I was going to say is, we're perfectly fine with you going." she said as my dad nodded to confirm his agreement.

"Thanks so much, mom and dad!" I exclaimed, hugging them both.

"And you're going with Ross?" my dad asked.

I nodded. Would that make them change their minds?

My mom smiled. "I like Ross, he's really sweet. He's the perfect guy for you."

"Mom!" I exclaimed. "We're just friends! Why does everyone think we're dating?"

"I know," she said, "and you should never date a co-star, but don't deny your feelings for him. It's okay to like him, but make sure you keep your emotions in check."

"Well, we're just friends." I insist. "But thanks."

"Okay," she said. "Well, you two are going to have a lot of fun. Make sure to call us often!"

"I will!"

* * *

 **Author's note: I know this first chapter wasn't very good. I know that. But I hope you'll still read on because I promise it'll get better. This was just kind of an intro chapter. And sorry if the next update takes a while. My exams are going to be over soon, and then it'll be school. Music is a lot of work.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: sorry as always for the slow updates. Only a few more weeks until school! Freedom! :P The school year is actually not as busy as my summer, which is crazy, because literally no one looks forward to school to have more free time. Anyways... back to the story! I'm thinking of doing this whole thing in Laura's POV, not sure yet, though, so if you have an opinion let me know:)**

 **This chapter is kind of an intro after the intro so I'm sorry about that but I promise I'll get to the cruise very very soon (it starts at the end of this chapter and then really starts in the next chapter) so thanks for being patient and reading stuff that I came up with even though it's not exactly the main part of the story yet:)**

 **P.S. I don't own Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Tomorrowland, or Space Mountain:)**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

"I'm so excited!" I exclaimed as Ross and I got off the plane.

We had just landed in Orlando, where we would be staying for a night before going on our cruise, which set sail from Port Canaveral. We were planning to go to Miami, since that's the location of Austin & Ally, but it's a 3 hour drive away from Port Canaveral, so it was too far.

As soon as we got into the airport, there were already blinding flashes from cameras trying to get pictures of us. I smiled instinctively, walking right behind Ross as we tried to please but also avoid all the paparazzi. We had already announced that we would be going on the cruise, so we were bound to face many more cameras, but it was all for the show. It was nice being famous, but sometimes it could get exhausting!

"Laura, let's just grab our bags and get to our hotel." Ross suggested, picking up his bag.

I nodded in agreement, taking my suitcase and following him out of the airport. As soon as we walked out into the bright Florida sun, I was temporarily blinded, but Ross just took my hand and walked in the direction of our limo. No sooner than we entered the sleek black car, our driver, Reynie (pronouced like "Raini"), stepped on the gas and started driving us to our hotel.

"So you two are staying in Orlando for a night?" Reynie asked.

"Yeah, and we're leaving on the cruise tomorrow." I replied. "Can you be at the hotel at 8:30? We have to board at 11:00, but there'll probably be a lot of stuff to do at the terminal, checking in and everything."

"Okay, no problem," he said. "I'll be there at 8."

I looked at Ross and smiled. I knew that we were both beyond excited, and even though it was a "business trip", we were still going to have a lot of fun. What kind of a boring business trip travels the Caribbean on a cruise ship, anyways? Not a boring one, at any rate. Especially not when you're with your best friend.

It didn't take long before our car drove up to a hotel. Not a super fancy one, but a nice one where hopefully no one would notice us. We were going to Disney World for the rest of the day, but we didn't want people finding out where we were staying overnight.

"Here we are, Ross and Laura," Reynie said, opening the doors of the limo. "Have a good day, and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Reynie!" we replied, getting our bags and heading into the hotel.

As soon as we walked in, I was struck by how spacious it seemed inside the lobby. It didn't look like a big hotel from the outside, but it looked huge from the inside. We had opted to go to a smaller, modest hotel as opposed to one of the huge fancy ones that we could technically afford, but it already seemed really nice.

We walked over to the check-in desk, where we were greeted by a friendly lady.

"Hi, we booked room 2911 for just one night," Ross said immediately.

"Okay, sir," the lady replied, "and what name is that under?"

"Laura," I said, showing her my passport with my full name. "Here's my ID."

There was a higher chance of Ross being recognized than me, besides, Laura was a really common name, so it could've been anyone.

The lady looked at the two of us, as if she could have possibly recognized us, then smiled and handed us two room keys.

"Your room should be ready in an hour, that is, 2:00." she informed us.

"Okay, thanks!" Ross and I said in unison.

"Anything I can do for you?" she asked. "The pool is out that door, and room service is available any time."

I heard Ross's stomach grumbling. "Well, I think we're going to have lunch, but thank you for telling us!"

"No problem, we have a cafe poolside!" she replied. "That way you don't have to go too far!"

"Thank you!" he exclaimed.

"Have a great vacation!" she replied cheerfully.

I smiled as we walked away. Florida was just as great as I had remembered from the last time I went, also with Ross, for Disney's Friends For Change. It was just so relaxing!

"I'm so hungry!" he exclaimed as we walked out the door.

"Yeah, I can hear your stomach!" I laughed. "It's like there's a grizzly bear in there!"

His stomach grumbled again and we both laughed as we headed to the cafe. There were a lot of people in and by the pool, which had a clear view of the cafe.

"Do you think people are going to recognize us?" I asked worriedly.

"Well, people know that we're going to Disney World this afternoon, anyways, so even if they see us here, it won't be a huge surprise." Ross replied.

"Yeah, but if people figure out what hotel we're staying in..."

I was interrupted by another loud grumble from his stomach, and my worry was temporarily forgotten as we both laughed uncontrollably.

"Okay, let's just have lunch," I said between giggles.

We sat down at a table in the shade and we were immediately greeted by a friendly waiter who handed us menus.

"Thanks," I said, watching Ross quickly open the menu.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the waiter asked.

"Actually, I'm ready to order." Ross said.

I laughed. "Okay, me too."

I ordered a small sandwich and Ross ordered a giant one, and within minutes, our food arrived.

"I'm so hungry!" Ross exclaimed between bites.

"Slow down, you don't want to choke!" I said, laughing.

The next time I looked up, he was already done eating his entire gigantic sandwich.

"How did you finish that so fast?" I exclaimed. "Your sandwich was three times bigger than mine!"

"Maybe I'm three times hungrier than you," he replied, making me laugh.

I looked at my watch and realized that it was already 1:30, so I quickly finished my sandwich and we left the hotel to go to Disney World via bus.

"Remind me, why didn't we take the limo?" Ross asked while we were on the bus.

"Reynie was busy," I said. "Plus, it's fun this way!"

He shrugged. "I guess so! It's nice being normal people for once, just taking a bus around with no one recognizing us."

I nodded to show my agreement. If we ever tried to take public transportation back home in LA, we would surely be noticed. Here in Orlando, though, we could just be normal 17-year-olds.

"Are you guys Austin and Ally?"

We turned around and saw a little girl, probably no older than five years old, with a woman that was probably her mom.

I smiled. "Yeah, we're Austin and Ally, and we're visiting Disney World!"

"We came here from Miami!" Ross added.

"That's awesome!" the girl exclaimed. "Is this going to be on TV? Is Austin going to sing a new song?"

"Well, this trip won't be on TV," I told her, "but Austin has lots of new songs coming out!"

"I'm very excited for you to hear them!" Ross added.

"Alright, Claire," her mom said after a moment. "I think this is Disney World, so Austin and Ally have to go."

I looked outside and saw that we had indeed arrived at Magic Kingdom.

"Bye, Claire!" I said, giving her a hug. "It was so nice meeting you!"

Ross gave her a hug as we left the bus, and her mom smiled at us. It was really nice meeting fans, especially little ones. It made all the late nights and early mornings working worth it.

We got off the bus and were immediately bombarded with cameras and interviewers.

"Ross and Laura!"

"Tell us about how Austin & Ally is going!"

"Are you dating?"

"Will there be a third season?"

"Why are you two going on a cruise with your ship name?"

"Where is your next photo shoot?"

"Are Calum and Raini here?"

Somehow, in the whole process, Ross and I managed to get through the entrance of Magic Kingdom, with the entire mob of paparazzi following us. We went all the way to Cinderella Castle.

"Alright, we can do some interviews!" Ross said loudly, trying to get the attention of the photographers and reporters.

Immediately, several dozen microphones were shoved in front of us, and everyone started asking questions as cameras flashed. We had been interviewed before many times, but it had never been this crazy!

"Is there going to be a third season of Austin & Ally?" I heard amidst the noise.

"Yes, the show has been renewed for a third season!" I replied, and the reporters immediately fell quiet to hear our answers.

"Can you tell us what happens in the rest of season two?" someone asked.

Ross laughed. "No, I can't tell you everything that happens, but I can tell you that there is an unexpected crush coming up very soon!"

I nod. "And a lot of great new music!"

"An unexpected crush?"

"Is it Austin and Ally?"

"Is there a kiss?"

I smile cryptically. "Those episodes are coming out in these next couple of weeks, so stay tuned! You won't have to wait long!"

We answered questions methodically for what seemed like an eternity, albeit not a tortuous one, almost as if this was what we did every day and we didn't have to think. I suppose we did interviews almost every day, but usually they were one-on-one, never with a whole group of interviewers.

"Are you two dating?" someone asked, snapping us out of our question-answering trance.

"No, we're just friends." I replied, smiling. "Really close friends, but we're not dating."

Ross looked down at me and I nodded subtly. The media had been relentlessly asking us about _Raura_ , even more so now because we would be travelling on a ship with our ship name.

The interview continued normally, without any further questions about Raura, much to my relief. I had gotten used to being asked so many questions about whether Ross and I had any sort of a romantic relationship, but it always made me uneasy. We were definitely just friends, but somehow people managed to turn even the most platonic gestures as signs of romance. It was almost as if we couldn't even be regular friends, as if even the idea was inconceivable.

"Thanks, everyone, but I think Laura and I have to go now," Ross said at some point, looking at his watch.

I looked at mine and realized that several hours had already passed, and we had already decided that we would go on just one ride before going back to our hotel.

After a while, all of the photographers and reporters reluctantly let us by, so that we could explore Magic Kingdom by ourselves.

"We only have time to go on one ride!" Ross exclaimed, frustrated. "I wanted to hang out here all afternoon, but we had to answer all of those questions!"

I laughed. "Ross, this isn't supposed to be a vacation, we're lucky that we have time at all to explore!"

He sighed. "I guess you're right, this is a business trip, I keep forgetting. But that doesn't mean that it can't be fun! Where should we go?"

"Space Mountain!" I replied eagerly.

"Okay!" he said, running in the direction of the big white building in Tomorrowland.

"Wait for me!" I exclaimed, running after him.

I arrived a full minute after him. I can't help that he's such a fast runner!

"You're...so...fast!" I panted. "How are you not out of breath?"

"That wasn't very far," he replied, laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe for you!"

I noticed that he was on his phone, so I walked up next to him to peek over and see what he was doing. He tilted his phone towards me so that I could see the screen. Immediately, I saw a picture show up. It showed the two of us sitting at the cafe at our hotel, eating lunch together. The picture was captioned "RAURA IS REAL!"

I sighed. "They think we're dating, don't they."

Sure, we were eating lunch together, but that doesn't mean that it was a date! We were on a business trip together and we had to eat something! It wasn't a date!

"I guess we'll just have to ignore it." Ross said.

I nodded. It was what we did all the time, anyways. One of the downsides of apparently having great chemistry with your co-star.

"But now people know what hotel we're staying at," I pointed out. "Do you think that'll be a problem?"

"It'll be fine, at least we're leaving tomorrow morning, and everyone knows what cruise we're going on, anyways." he replied.

I nodded and saw that we had reached the front of the line. I smiled.

"Let's go, Ross!"

We sat down in the roller coaster seat, where I sat in the front and Ross sat directly behind me with some other people behind him. We all buckled our seat belts and the attendant checked them, and then we were off!

I smiled the whole way through the ride. Okay, I might've screamed, too, but Ross was screaming behind me so that's nothing to be ashamed of. Inside the darkness of Space Mountain, I finally felt free, I felt like there was nothing in the world to worry about, work, school, the media, nothing. I was finally free.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

 **Back at the hotel**

"I'm so tired!" I mumbled.

"Me too!" Ross replied.

We had eaten dinner and watched an episode of Austin & Ally that was on TV, and it was only 9:00! We'd had a long day, though, so we were both exhausted.

Our room had two bedrooms, and I had immediately secured the bigger one, leaving Ross with a small bedroom with only a sofa bed. He didn't really complain, though. He'd just sighed and brought his suitcase to the small room.

I walked into my bedroom and flopped down onto the huge bed. I was vaguely aware of Ross walking in and saying something, but I already drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **The next morning**

"Wake up, Laura!"

I groaned, turning around to see Ross standing at the foot of my bed. I blinked a few times before remembering that we were on a trip, and I wasn't at home.

He grinned when he saw me wake up. "Breakfast time!"

"What time is it?" I mumbled.

"Breakfast time!" he exclaimed. "I made toast!"

I sat up and looked at the clock to see that it was 6:00.

"Ross, it's only 6 a.m!" I exclaimed.

"Well, Reynie's getting here at 8, and I figured you're probably going to take forever to get ready, so I woke you up early." he replied.

"What time did _you_ wake up?" I mumbled, still not fully awake.

"5:30!" he replied enthusiastically.

"I thought you liked sleeping in?" I said, confused.

"I also don't like being late!" he replied. "And neither do you. Come on, get out of bed!"

I reluctantly got out of bed and realized that I wasn't even wearing pyjamas, that I had fallen asleep wearing an uncomfortably tight dress that I wore the day before.

After a few minutes, I ate my slightly-burnt toast and drank some orange juice that Ross had made.

"Okay, get changed and pack up your stuff, we have to go!" Ross exclaimed.

"We still have over an hour and a half!" I replied.

"Well, I assume you're also going to do your hair and makeup and girly stuff like that." he said. "That'll take you a while."

I rolled my eyes and went back into my bedroom to get changed. I looked through all of my clothes and settled on a yellow summer dress, and then I went into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I sighed, seeing my messy hair, and started brushing it. I decided to leave it down, and I chose to go light on makeup. It was more of a natural look, and it made me feel more relaxed.

I walked back into the bedroom and finished packing away my last things in my red suitcase. I grabbed my watch, did a final check around the room, and walked back outside.

"I'm ready!" I exclaimed.

"Wow, that was fast!" Ross called as I walked out into the living room.

He was still cleaning up the kitchenette, but he turned around as soon as he heard me walk out of the bedroom.

"You look pretty," he said after a minute of silence.

I blushed. "Aw, thanks, Ross!"

This kind of playful flirting always happened between us. It was nothing more than friendly, of course, but everyone around us would tease us about it. Friends could compliment each other, couldn't they?

"It's 7:15 and Reynie's not coming until 8," I said. "What should we do?"

"Well, I still have to pack my stuff." Ross replied. "So you can do whatever you want. I still can't believe you got ready so fast!"

He walked back into his bedroom and I turned on the TV and saw that an old episode of Austin & Ally was on, so I sat down on the couch and watched that.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Ross said after a while.

I looked at my watch. "We're still a bit early, but let's go downstairs and check out."

He nodded and we walked downstairs to the lobby, where the same friendly lady was at the check-in desk.

"Checking out?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Room 2911."

She nodded and clicked a few things on her computer. "All done! I hope you enjoyed your trip, even if it was short!"

We said goodbye and walked outside, where, to our surprise, our limo was already parked. Reynie waved to get our attention, and we walked over and put our luggage in the backseat.

"All set?" he asked after we had gotten into the limo.

We both nodded and he started the engine, driving us to the port where our cruise would depart.

* * *

As soon as we walked into the cruise terminal, I immediately noticed that there were already a lot of people there. And it didn't take them long to notice that we had arrived, and pretty soon we were being blinded by camera flashes and deafened by people screaming. I'm still awestruck at the idea of having fans.

Eventually, we made our way to the check-in desk, where we dropped off our luggage to be brought to our suite onboard the ship, and we verified our identities and learned that we be able to board the ship in only a few minutes.

We went and sat down on a couch in the waiting area, where we were mobbed by fans who had arrived early to see us before we boarded the ship. We were joined by a tall man named Pierre, who introduced himself as a cruise security guard.

"I'm going to be your official security guard for this trip," he explained. "My colleagues and I will ensure your safety."

After a few minutes, Pierre told us that it was time to board the ship, and after a few more minutes, our fans reluctantly let us pass by. Pierre walked quickly to the end of the tunnel that led to the ship, as Ross and I stayed behind.

"I'm so excited!" he exclaimed, taking my hand. "A week on a work vacation with my best friend!"

I smiled. "We're going to have so much fun!"

* * *

 **Author's note: I hope you liked this chapter (and if not, constructive criticism is appreciated)! I promise the fun will start in the next chapter, which I will unfortunately not be able to post for a while since I'm going to be super busy, but that's normal nowadays. Sorry:/**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: it's been forever but exams are FINALLY OVER (and school's finally started)! I love music but I am so glad that I don't have to worry about more exams until** ** _school exams_** **in December...but those are easy...I guess. Hopefully, I can update more often now (but no guarantees because school is starting and I'm now on two robotics teams four days a week on top of two bands and two choirs).**

 **I hope you like this next chapter! (It's longer than usual so that's why it took so long to update.)**

 **P.S. To the guest who reviewed about the spelling of "Raini", I know that, but it was actually a different person who was their limo driver and I wanted to make it a fun play on names:) Sorry about any confusion that could've caused (whether you're actually seeing this or not).**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

"Let's have lunch!" Ross suggested.

We had just boarded the _Raura_ ship and there was barely anyone anywhere, since we had priority boarding. However, we had neglected the fact that we couldn't go swimming without swimsuits, and those were all in our suitcases on the way to our suite, which would not be accessible to us until 2:30 p.m, and by then, we had a scheduled interview. It was currently 11:15 a.m, so we had no other choice but to eat an early lunch and then explore the ship.

We got into the elevator at the aft (the back) of the ship, which led us to the buffet on the 11th deck of the ship. As soon as we walked out of the elevator, there was sun beaming through the large glass windows in the buffet. I smiled.

"Welcome to the buffet!" a man in a crew outfit greeted us. "You must be Ross Lynch and Laura Marano!"

I nodded. "This place is amazing!"

"Let's get food!" Ross exclaimed, running up to the counters.

"Sorry, not a lot of the food is ready yet." the crew member said. "It'll be ready in a few minutes, but while you're waiting, you can check out the rest of Deck 11."

"It's okay, we'll just explore this buffet," Ross said. "This place is huge!"

We walked around the buffet, seeing a long row of buffet counters and display boxes for the food, and hundreds of tables. It was unlike any buffet I'd ever seen, and I'd seen a lot of big buffets.

We walked around and suddenly saw Mickey Mouse!

"Cool!" Ross exclaimed. "It's Mickey Mouse!"

He (well, the crew member inside) waved to us, as Pierre offered to take our picture. Ross got a picture on his iPhone, and I got one on my flip phone. It was difficult carrying around an iPad everywhere, so I left it in my suitcase to be sent to our suite.

"Food's here!" Ross suddenly exclaimed, rushing to the buffet counters.

I laughed and saw that there were already some other people who had boarded the ship and were now entering the buffet. At first, no one noticed or recognized us, but as we walked up to get our food, some people did.

"Ross and Laura!"

"You guys are actually here!"

"This is so exciting!"

Pierre was aware of everything happening around us and protected us from a few overenthusiastic fans. They wouldn't have hurt us, but it was still good to have security. But sometimes I wished that I could just blend in with everyone else.

Ross and I finally filled our plates and walked over to a table to sit down.

"Mmm, this pizza is really good!" he said. "Isn't this place awesome?"

I laughed. "Yeah! And not just because of the pizza!"

I looked over at the crowd of fans and saw that some crew members were talking to them and telling them that they could take photos with us later, when we had a scheduled meet-and-greet.

"We have two scheduled interviews and a meet-and-greet today," I told Ross between bites of pizza.

"Seriously? We have such a busy day!" he exclaimed.

I laughed. "Business trip, remember? Oh, and we're also going to be in the inaugural sailing-away party. Besides, today's actually one of our less busy days. We have a bit of time after the sailing-away party to do whatever we want."

He sighed. "Right, business trip. Well, it'll still be fun! We get to meet fans and be in a sailing-away party! And interviews are cool, too."

We quickly finished our lunch to give ourselves some time to explore the ship. The first place we went was the lobby on the fourth deck. Once we went down, I was awestruck by the enormity of the lobby. It was huge, bigger than most building lobbies, let alone a lobby in a ship. It was two floors high, up to the fifth deck, and had a giant glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A golden staircase led up to the balcony of the fifth deck, which overlooked the entire lobby.

"This is where you'll be doing your meet-and-greets," Pierre explained.

"Awesome!" Ross exclaimed. "I've never seen so much gold!"

Pretty much everything in the lobby was colored gold. The floor, the walls, and even the windows looking outside, which were adorned with gold windowsills.

"We have an interview in ten minutes at the teen club on the sixth deck," I remembered. "Should we go?"

"Okay," Ross replied, as we slowly walked to the elevator going up the middle of the ship.

We arrived at the sixth deck and Pierre showed us the way to the teen club. We were still just learning our way around, but I figured that we would be at the teen club a lot, so I mentally took note of the way to get there.

"Ross and Laura, nice to see you again!" a familiar voice said.

We approached the entrance of the teen club, where a reporter awaited.

"Joslyn!" I exclaimed, walking up to her.

Joslyn was a regular interviewer of Austin & Ally. She went to practically every event that we were interviewed at, and she would always make sure to ask us a few questions. It wasn't annoying or anything, in fact, we kind of became friends. We told her stuff about the show, and she would tell our fans.

"I'm reporting for this entire trip!" she told us. "I couldn't miss this! Raura on the _Raura_ ship!"

"Wow, you're spending a week just reporting on one trip?" Ross asked, surprised. "I thought you usually did a whole bunch of different things all the time, not just covering Austin & Ally!"

"Well," she replied, "the fans _really_ want to know about Raura. And this trip. So instead of just catching up with you at one of the ports, or down in Florida, I got sent here to follow you on this trip!"

I was surprised. I knew that fans wanted to get every bit of gossip about me and Ross, but I had no idea that they were passionate enough to have a TV company send their reporter on a week-long trip just for it!

We walked inside the teen club, which was decorated with black, white, yellow, and red.

"Wow, this place looks like Mickey Mouse!" Ross expressed my exact thoughts.

"Actually, it's because these are the colors from the Austin & Ally theme song," Joslyn explained. "And Mickey Mouse, too. But mostly because of your show. Raura, remember?"

We nodded and laughed. Our fans were really the best!

"Alright, first question," Joslyn said. "What was your initial reaction when you heard that there was a ship named after your romantic relationship?"

I laughed. "Well, first of all, we don't exactly have a romantic relationship, as you know. We're just friends! But I was just really surprised at first. I mean, it must've cost a fortune to get a cruise ship named after us!"

Ross nodded. "I was surprised, too. But I feel like this is exactly the type of thing that our fans would do. It's more of a question of whether they would think to do it, not whether they can do it. If they put their minds to anything, they can do it."

"Interesting." Joslyn replied. "Well, your fans have their minds set on getting you two together. Do you think they can do it?"

I laughed nervously, looking over at Ross, who just smiled awkwardly.

"Well, I mean..." he replied, "We do have a rule that we can't date co-stars. So it's definitely not going to happen now or in the near future. I guess they do have their minds set on it, so who knows? Maybe in the future, when the show's finished, but definitely not now. We're just friends!"

I nodded my agreement, grateful that Ross could come up with an answer that at least sounded okay. It was difficult when anything you said could be turned against you and put you in an awkward situation.

"That's a good rule. You can't risk two co-stars breaking up." Joslyn agreed. "You hear that, Raura shippers? Ross and Laura can't get together now, for professional reasons, but you never know what will happen in the future. Alright, next question. Can you tell us anything that happens in the rest of season 2?"

"Well, I don't know if you know this already," I said. "But there is an unexpected crush coming up very soon! In fact, the first episode featuring it is airing tomorrow night! I think everyone will be really excited."

"Auslly shippers, this could be for you!" she said. "Is there going to be a kiss?"

My mind jumped to the fake kiss that was part of Chapters & Choices, and then I remembered the real one in Real Life & Reel Life. I blushed involuntarily, hating myself for it. Luckily, Ross covered for me.

"We can't tell you, but we can say that there are going to be a lot of mixed emotions throughout the season. There are a lot of ups and downs." he said.

"Austin & Ally fans, get ready for an emotional roller coaster ride this season." Joslyn said. "Now, tell me, what kind of music are you most excited about for the rest of this season?"

"Well, this season, Ally gets to sing a bit! She's already sung in Costumes & Courage, which you saw, but she gets to sing as herself." I replied. "We can't tell you much, but that was really exciting for me, and it'll be really exciting for all the fans, too. And the finale, which won't air for a while, has two really great new songs. I really like all of the music that's coming out!"

"Can you tell us about your favorite episode to date?" she asked.

"Mine is Chapters & Choices." I said. "It's coming out in a few weeks! It's the first episode where Ally really gets to sing, and not dressed up as someone else."

Ross nodded. "I like that one too, but my favorite episode also hasn't come out. It's called Real Life & Reel Life. In it, Austin and Ally get into a bit of a disagreement, and Dez is trying to make a movie about them, but they won't cooperate. Plus, we got to dress up in a bunch of fun costumes!"

"A disagreement!" Joslyn exclaimed. "Wow, that's really rare. Was it weird acting like you were arguing with each other?"

"Not really," Ross replied. "I mean, Laura and I are kind of like a married couple. We argue over everything! So it was the most normal it's been on camera."

"We do not argue!" I objected, blushing at both the "married couple" comment and the fact that I had just proved myself wrong by arguing.

Joslyn laughed. "Well, it looks like you do argue a bit. Last question. If Calum and Raini were here, what do you think they would say about the fact that you two are on a ship with your ship name?"

"Well, they don't have to be here to say anything about it." Ross replied, laughing. "Honestly, they really want us together, especially Calum. They were really excited back in LA when we found out, so I think they would just kind of be like any of our fans. Just really excited."

"Is it weird, that your friends want you together?" Joslyn asked.

"At first, it was," I replied. "But, I mean, we got used to it. Calum teases us a lot, but it's fun, we're all friends, and we just have a lot of fun."

Ross nodded. "Yeah, it's just a lot of fun, and Calum's really silly sometimes, too. Kind of like Dez. He's really smart, not exactly like Dez, but they're both really silly and fun-loving."

"Aw, that's sweet!" she said. "Well, that's all for now! Thanks, Ross and Laura! I'll see you guys soon!"

"Bye!" we said in unison as the cameras turned off.

Joslyn smiled but quickly hurried out without saying anything else to us, which was pretty normal, so Ross and I just leisurely walked out of the still-empty teen club. Pierre led us to the elevator, where we went down to the lobby again for our next and final interview of the day.

"I'm glad that we can get these interviews done early today," Ross said.

"It's not going to be like that in the next few days!" I laughed. "We're going to be really busy!"

Once we were down at the lobby, I immediately saw dozens of cameras and a few people carrying microphones. It wasn't quite as chaotic as the previous day at Disney World, but it was definitely busier than our interview with Joslyn.

"Ross and Laura!" one person said, with a camera swivelling to point to us. "What an exciting trip!"

I nodded and smiled, not really sure what to say.

"Does the fact that you two are going on this trip mean that you are finally together?" someone asked.

"No, we're just friends!" Ross replied. "This trip is just for work. For Austin & Ally."

The interviewers (and the onlookers) seemed a bit disappointed, but I'm pretty sure they knew that we weren't together. It was just kind of their normal reaction.

"Yeah, the new episode is coming out tomorrow night and there will be a screening of it at the theater." I said.

"What is your opinion on Auslly, the romantic pairing between Austin and Ally?" someone asked.

"Well, they're definitely just friends, at this point." I replied, remembering how Girlfriends & Girl Friends hadn't aired yet. "And of course, there's no reason to be anything more than friends when you don't feel that way."

"Is that how you feel about Raura?" someone else asked quickly.

"Well, yes," I stammered, not expecting the question.

"As Laura said, there's no reason to be anything more than friends when you don't feel that way." Ross said confidently. "Besides, it would be very unprofessional. We're not just friends, we're also co-workers."

"Hypothetically speaking," one interviewer said, "if you two had feelings for each other, what would you do? As you said, you two can't date for professional reasons."

Ross and I were both surprised by this question, one that hadn't been asked of us before. It wasn't like interviewers to ask us such personal questions, but I guess the fans were being persistent. They didn't just want news, they wanted gossip.

"I...don't..." I said, unable to come up with a response.

"I guess we would have to ignore our feelings for the sake of being professional." Ross said a bit uncertainly.

"But, as you know, we're just friends." I added quickly. "Just because our fans want us together doesn't make us anything more than friends."

"So how does it feel to be on a cruise ship named after your romantic pairing?" someone asked.

"I just think of it as a tribute to our supportive fans." Ross replied. "They don't just support getting us together, they also support our show. And I think that's really great, because they're super supportive."

I nodded. "Our fans are really dedicated, and that's the whole reason why we're on this trip. It's for them."

Eventually, the group of reporters and cameramen walked away, and we were able to make it outside onto the fourth deck for the security announcements and fire drill, and then we headed up to Deck 11 for the sailing-away party.

* * *

"Please welcome...Ross Lynch and Laura Marano!"

We walked out onto the stage to see a sea of cheering fans. I looked a little further, past the ship, to see us surrounded by a sea that was as blue as the sky around it. It was an amazing feeling, being up on the exposed deck of the ship and seeing everything around us. It wasn't every day that I could look at the land from the ocean.

"Who's excited for the inaugural sailing of the _Raura_ cruise ship!" Ross said to the crowd.

Thunderous applause and cheering followed suit, and I smiled.

"We are so excited to be here, thank you to all of you who supported Austin & Ally right from the start and thank you to all of you who joined in and are here now!" I exclaimed.

"Who wants to see a performance of Can't Do It Without You?" Ross asked the crowd.

The cheering was even louder than before as the music started and Ross started to rap the opening lines of our show's theme song. It got even louder as I joined in.

"We're headed for the top, we got it on lock," I sang as everyone cheered.

As soon as the chorus came, the entire crowd joined in the singing. It was amazing to hear everyone so enthusiastically joining in and singing along, and it was amazing to be performing myself, since I had never actually performed in front of a large crowd before.

"Thank you everyone!" Ross called as the song finished.

I grabbed his hand as we ran backstage, the fans still cheering.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed.

I nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "That was insane!"

"Ross and Laura, you have a photoshoot now, and then you have time for yourselves before dinner." Pierre told us. "I'll show you to Deck 14."

We followed him upstairs as the sailing-away party continued and we could still hear the fans cheering. When we arrived up to Deck 14, I was struck by the serenity of the ocean that we could see, unlike the excited atmosphere down below.

A photographer approached us and explained that he was just going to take some pictures of us before the ship sailed away from Florida.

"I just want you to stand at the edge, overlooking the Florida coastline." he said.

We nodded and walked over to the rail, looking back at the land. The ship hadn't left the port yet, but the land already seemed so far away. It gave me a wistful, far-away feeling, and Ross had to wave his hand in front of my face to get my attention. I blinked and blushed, realizing that I had been daydreaming.

"Great, and can you two just stand, facing the camera," the cameraman said. "Laura, you can turn a bit to face Ross, so that we can have the wind blowing in your hair."

We followed his instructions, Ross putting his arm around me, and I turned a little towards him. I smiled, leaning into Ross a little bit. We'd done photoshoots before, but they were always in studios with artificial lighting and fake backdrops. This was the first time that it actually seemed real.

The cameraman took a few more pictures before lowering his camera and smiling at us.

"Thanks, I think we got what we need!" he said. "You two look great, I hope you enjoy your trip!"

As he left, I heard the ship's horn sounding, and a loud cheer came from below. The ship was sailing! I looked over the edge of the ship again to see the shoreline seemingly moving away from us. Ross used his phone to take a picture, and I hugged him from behind.

"This is so exciting!" I exclaimed.

"What should we do now?" he asked. "We have an hour before dinner!"

"Do you want to check out your room?" Pierre asked. "If you want, I can leave you two alone so that I'm not always bothering you. You can just call room service if you need security."

I smiled. "Oh, you're not bothering us, Pierre. But that sounds great, we should go check out our room! Can you come back in an hour when we go to dinner?"

"Sure," he replied. "Your room number is 6254."

"Thanks!" Ross exclaimed, grabbing my hand and running towards the elevator. "Let's go!"

I laughed as I ran after him. We took the elevator downstairs to the sixth deck, and we walked around aimlessly until we found the rooms. Most were the small standard staterooms, but when we arrived at room 6254, I saw immediately that it was a suite, much bigger than the standard rooms. I used the key that I was given to open the door, and our luggage was already inside.

"Awesome, our room is huge!" Ross exclaimed, running inside.

I walked inside to see that there was a spacious area with a couch facing a TV, and a table with two chairs. I also saw that we had a balcony looking out to the ocean. There were framed photos on the walls of the room of scenes from Austin & Ally. I looked around. Where was Ross?

"Cool, these bathrooms are gigantic!" he called.

I rolled my eyes and laughed as I saw him enter one of the two large bathrooms. He was so silly sometimes!

"Where are the bedrooms?" I wondered aloud.

He walked back out of the bathroom. "Oh, there must be one behind this door."

He opened a door, revealing a bedroom with a king-sized bed and two dressers, plus a large closet and lots of empty space.

"I call this bedroom!" I exclaimed, laughing. "Where's your bedroom?"

He walked back outside and pointed to another, smaller door. "Probably there."

He opened the door, but it was only the second bathroom.

"Wait a minute..." I mumbled, picking up my iPad to read the information on the email that we had received. "This is a one-bedroom suite, Ross."

"Oh," he said, blushing and laughing. "That's why there's only one bedroom."

"Yeah, but if there's only one bedroom, there's only one bed." I mumbled, barely audibly.

"Oh," he repeated, eyes widening.

"Look, this doesn't have to be weird." I said after a pause. "I mean, we just...never mind. It'll be fine."

* * *

 **A few hours later**

"I'm so tired!" Ross groaned as we walked into our suite.

We had eaten dinner, which was delicious, and then we talked to lots of fans and took countless pictures with them. It wasn't an official meet-and-greet, but everywhere we went, there were people who wanted to meet us. It was fun, and still a bit exciting, to have "fans" who really wanted to meet us. We would probably be meeting every person on the ship at some point, and every person probably secretly (or not so secretly) shipped Raura.

"I'm going to get changed and get ready to sleep," I said to Ross.

"Okay, I'm going to watch TV," he replied.

I laughed and went into the bathroom to change into my pyjamas, a red long-sleeved shirt and pants. Ross was still watching TV, but as soon as he saw that I was changed, he entered the other bathroom to do the same. I entered the bedroom and climbed into the bed, curling up under the duvet. Only a minute later, I heard Ross exit the bathroom.

"I'm so tired!" he exclaimed loudly, walking into the bedroom.

I sat up and saw that he was wearing nothing but sweatpants. He stretched tiredly and I gulped. I was no idiot, I knew that Ross was hot. We were just friends, though! Just because he was hot didn't mean that I liked him. Well, I liked him as a friend, but nothing more than that!

"O-okay," I stuttered. "Yeah, let's just go to sleep."

"Good idea," he agreed, rolling into bed.

I shivered. _Get over yourself,_ I told myself. This was ridiculous. We were just friends! Why was I suddenly getting butterflies? It was like when we were filming Real Life & Reel Life. We were just friends! So why did the last scene make me so nervous? It was my first kiss, that's why. But what about now? Why was I getting nervous?

"Good night, Laur," Ross mumbled, giving me a hug.

"G-good night," I replied.

His arms were still around me when he fell asleep. I took a few deep breaths to finally calm myself down, and I sighed in relief. I was feeling okay again, despite how close Ross was to me. We'd been closer before, and it was no big deal. We were best friends, of course we were used to being near each other. Yes, everything was normal again.

I smiled, and with that moment of relaxation, I fell asleep.

* * *

 **Author's note: sorry for taking so long to update! I hope the next chapter will be up soon since my robotics teams and bands haven't started yet, but choir also takes a lot of time, not to mention actual school...**

 **I hope you liked this chapter! (Not sure if it was worth the wait though) And as always, constructive criticism is appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Well, I got this chapter done faster than I thought. I probably can't update in 5 days the next time, though. School is really busy this year. I'm there from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm almost every day and I have no spares! Yikes. So I'll probably update pretty slowly now but if I have a free day I will write as much as possible!**

 **P.S. Friend-shipper is a term that I made up. If you've heard of it before or someone else has used it before me, I assure you that I was not aware that it was a term. Not that I really looked it up or anything, but I'm not trying to steal someone else's term:) And at the time that I wrote this, austinally_sky was not a real Twitter handle. So if somehow it is by the time you read this, this handle is not supposed to be affiliated with a real person. (Ok last thing, at the time of this, Laura's Twitter was yaylauramarano but now it's not so I just changed that to avoid confusion)**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

I woke up and the first thing I realized that some guy was hugging me. The second thing I realized was that said guy was my best friend, Ross Lynch.

"You awake?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah," I replied, smiling.

He sat up quickly. "I'm so excited!" he exclaimed suddenly, no longer tired.

I yawned and stretched. "How can you already be so energetic?"

"Hey, aren't you usually the energetic one?" he retorted playfully.

"True," I replied, sitting up. "Today's going to be such a busy day!"

"We didn't go swimming yesterday! Let's do that today!" he suggested.

"If we have time, definitely." I replied. "But we have to do a meet-and-greet at 9."

Now that it was morning, seeing him shirtless somehow no longer had any effect on me. It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence, so that was normal. I guess the night just had some unknown control over me that wasn't usually noticeable.

"Okay, I'm going to change," he said, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

I sighed and stretched before getting up and changing into a loose blue t-shirt and white jean shorts. Today was going to be a busy day, so I'd better get ready.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

"Are you guys dating?"

That was the twenty-ninth time we were asked the question. Ross and I were doing a meet-and-greet in the lobby, since for the whole day we would be sailing at sea, without stopping at any ports. The following day, we were stopping somewhere on an island in the Caribbean, as we would also be doing the day after that.

"No, we're just friends!" Ross said pleasantly. "Oh, and don't forget to come to the premiere of the new episode of Austin & Ally tonight!"

I handed the girl her autograph book, which I had signed, and she smiled and waved before walking away. I smiled and waved back as the next girl and her little brother walked up to us.

"Oh my gosh, I'm such a big fan of you two!" she exclaimed, handing us her autograph book. "I love Austin & Ally! I'm totally an Auslly shipper!"

"Let me guess," Ross said, "you ship Raura too? You know, we're just friends!"

I laughed and blushed a little before waiting for the girl's reply, as her brother stood obediently next to her and looked up at us.

"Actually," she said, "I'm not exactly a shipper in the sense that I want you two to date. I'm more of a Raura...friend-shipper. You know, I want you guys to stay friends for a really long time. Because I know that a lot of Disney stars eventually forget their castmate friends. But you guys have a really good friendship. And Ross, I love R5, but don't forget Laura when your band gets huge and Austin & Ally has wrapped. And Laura, when you're a world-famous actress in every movie everywhere, don't forget Ross."

I felt my heart melting a little. "Aw, thank you so much! That means a lot."

"Laura, don't worry, I won't forget you." Ross said, putting his arm around me and giving me a side-hug.

I leaned into Ross a little before turning to the girl again. "Do you want a picture with us?"

She nodded eagerly, so we posed for a fun picture that her tiny brother took. The girl was no more than 9 years old, the brother not even 4 feet tall, but they had both made such a strong impression on me, that I felt I had to say something.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl.

"Sky." she replied.

I smiled. "Well, Sky, if you have Instagram or something, just DM me and tell me who you are. I want to stay in touch."

She jumped up and down in excitement, giving me a hug. "Thanks so much!"

Her brother looked up to her and motioned hesitantly to leave, so she reluctantly hugged us before turning around and walking slowly away.

"Don't forget to come to the premiere of Austin & Ally tonight in the theater!" Ross called. "We'd love to see you there!"

She turned around and waved back at us, indicating that she had heard Ross, before smiling and walking down a long hallway with her brother.

"This meet-and-greet has completed, it is now 10:30." Pierre told us.

"Awesome! Swimming time!" Ross exclaimed. "Let's go, Laura!"

"We still have to check in with Joslyn," I reminded him.

"We can text her to meet us up on the pool deck! It's awesome outside, let's go!" he exclaimed, taking my hand and running to the elevator.

I couldn't object; it was an amazing day outside, and I really wanted some fresh air, so I ran after him as Pierre calmly followed behind us. When we were on the elevator, I quickly texted her that we were going up to the pool deck and that she should meet us there. As soon as we got up to the pool deck, Pierre directed us to the change rooms, where we could change into our bathing suits. Ross quickly ran to the men's change room, as I sat down on a deck chair to check my Twitter.

I noticed, as always, that I already had tons of mentions from fans, most of them about Raura. There were pictures of our meet-and-greet and even a few pictures that people had managed to capture of us, without us knowing. I scrolled through them quickly, not intending to reply, and then I saw a message from user austinally_sky. It was as follows:

 _lauramarano rossr5 it's sky! remember me?_

Attached to the post was a picture of us with her. I smiled. Not many kids her age had Twitter, but somehow she knew that messaging me there would be faster than through Instagram. She was clever, I knew that for sure.

"Laura, hurry up!" Ross exclaimed, running up to me.

He had already changed into his swimsuit (just swim trunks) and he was impatiently running around.

"Okay, okay!" I laughed, after clicking "follow" in Sky's profile and putting my iPad away.

I ran to the women's change room and changed into my swimsuit, a cute red bikini set. As soon as I was changed, I ran back outside, knowing that Ross was probably really impatient. To my surprise, he was talking to Joslyn (who had presumably just arrived), and he was looking rather calm.

"Hey, Laura!" Joslyn exclaimed, seeing me.

I ran up to Ross's side, facing one of the TV cameras. "Hi!"

"How's your day been going?" she asked.

"It was really good so far, we did a meet-and-greet and met some really awesome fans." I replied.

"Cool!" she said. "And I heard that the new Austin & Ally episode is premiering tonight in the theater!"

"Yeah, I think you'll really like it!" I said. "It's really dramatic, and it kind of sets the stage for the next couple of episodes."

"Can you tell us anything that happens?" she asks.

"Well, Kira's in it!" I replied. "And I'll just say that maybe her breath doesn't smell too bad anymore!"

She laughed. "Well, maybe Austin, Ally, Trish, and Dez can be friends with her, now!"

I laughed. "Definitely! But maybe it's more complicated than that..."

"Ooh, drama!" Joslyn laughed. "Sounds interesting! I can't wait to see what happens!"

I looked up to Ross, wondering if he was even going to say anything, and I noticed that he was just intently watching me. It wasn't creepy, it was just something that's inherently...Ross. I turned back to face the camera and Joslyn again.

"It'll be really exciting! And I'll assure you that, as always, there'll be twists that no one expects!"

"Can't wait!" she said. "Well, that's all for today! Thanks, guys, and enjoy your swim!"

I waved at the camera just before it turned off, and Joslyn said something to the cameraman and they both walked away.

"Let's go swimming!" I exclaimed, turning to Ross.

He just nodded.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. "You seem kind of...spaced out."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine!" he replied, a bit more energetic. "Yeah! Let's go swimming! Wait, let's go on the waterslide! Race you there!"

He started running towards the entrance of the giant waterslide that circled the ship, and I laughed and ran after him. There was no way that I would win. He was so fast! But it was fun, and I didn't want to fall behind too much, so I arrived only a bit after him.

"Beat you!" he laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "You're faster than me, of course you won!"

There was a really long line to the waterslide, but a lot of people noticed us, and after we talked to all of them for a while, we somehow ended up at the front of the line.

"Ross and Laura, awesome to see you here!" the lifeguard said. "So, you have to sit in a tube as you go down this waterslide."

We grabbed one of the blue inner tubes with two seats and placed it down on the conveyor belt that led to the giant tube slide. Ross sat in the back with me in front of him.

"Make sure you hold on, and don't get out of the slide until you've reached the end and the other lifeguard at the end tells you to."

We nodded, understanding the instructions.

"And be sure to have fun!"

The light on top of the opening of the slide turned from red to green, and the conveyor belt started moving, and our inner tube splashed into the glass waterslide.

"Whoa, this is so awesome!" Ross exclaimed from behind me. "You can see the whole pool deck!"

I looked around to see that he was right, you could see the whole pool deck and the ocean beyond. It was a bright and sunny day outside, and I couldn't have felt happier, whooshing through the waterslide. We traveled around the ship in the slide, occasionally being splashed by water all around us, and I got to see parts of the ship that I hadn't seen yet. There were lots of people in the different pools, and lots of kids splashing around, on this surprisingly warm winter morning. Of course it was warm, we were in the Caribbean!

"I love this waterslide! Let's ride it all day!" Ross exclaimed as we splashed through another turn.

"We have things to do!" I objected. "Fans to meet! Interviews to complete! And an episode premiere to attend!"

"Okay, fine, but we are definitely coming back at least three more times this trip." he said.

"Okay!" I laughed.

It was fun! Hanging out with Ross on an awesome waterslide was really fun! Everything about the trip so far was really fun, even the working part! I was known for being a happy person, but I don't think I'd ever been happier.

* * *

 **That night**

"I'm so tired, do we even have to go to this premiere?" Ross complained.

Over the course of the day, we'd completed another meet-and-greet, two more interviews, and a livestream. We hadn't had much time to just relax after we went on the waterslide, but it was evening and we had to go to the theater for the premiere of Girlfriends & Girl Friends.

"Yes! It's the only episode that's premiering on this trip! We're not just going to miss it!" I replied, teasingly enthusiastic.

Truth be told, I was exhausted and I didn't really feel like going to the premiere, either. But it was our show that we were promoting, and it was our job to promote it, so we had to go. It was only a half hour episode, how bad could it be?

"Ross and Laura!" Joslyn exclaimed, suddenly running up to us at the entrance of the theater.

"Oh, hi, Joslyn!" I said, trying to be enthusiastic and not look too tired.

"So, right before the premiere, let's just have a few questions from some fans! By the way, we're livestreaming this right now!" she said.

I waved at the camera.

"So, everyone wants to know, why is it called Girlfriends & Girl Friends? Who are the girl friends?" she asked.

"Well, we can't exactly tell you, but I can say that Kira is one of them." I replied. "The episode starts in a few minutes, so it won't take long to find out!"

"Okay! And the guess that most fans have...is Ally the other girl friend?" she asked.

"Good guess!" I replied. "I can't tell you if it's right or wrong...but it's definitely what I would have guessed!"

"Last question before we have to go into the theater! What is your opinion on Auslly?"

"Well, at the moment, Austin and Ally are definitely just friends." Ross said. "And if you're just friends, you should never force a relationship. Plus, they're also musical partners, so dating could jeopardize their careers if something went wrong. So they definitely shouldn't date at the moment. If they start liking each other, though, things might get complicated."

He pretty much just entirely gave away the rest of the season, but after tonight's episode, things would get pretty predictable anyways. I just laughed and nodded, indicating my agreement.

"VIPs into the theater!" someone called.

"Okay, thanks so much, let's go!" Joslyn exclaimed as the cameraman left.

The three of us walked into the theater to the VIP box, since Pierre had decided to let us go to the premiere alone, but he would be there when we left. Ross and I sat down next to each other, him on my right, as Joslyn sat down behind us. Some other important Disney executives who were also on the cruise, as well as other reporters, filled the seats around us.

Soon, after the theater was filled, the lights dimmed and the big screen lit up with the opening scene of the episode. I could already feel the excitement and anticipation all around us, and I was really excited, too. I glanced over at Ross, who smiled at me. We were the only ones who knew about what was going to happen, and it was going to be exciting.

It was pretty funny to see how the entire audience was reacting to the on-screen action, laughing when Trish bought all the flowers for Ally under Austin's name, and laughing every time there was a mention of Austin and Ally liking each other.

Pretty soon it was the scene where Austin and Ally were in the practice room, planning for Austin's date with Kira, and just as the atmosphere on-screen changed, the atmosphere in the theater shifted from something lighthearted to more serious, anticipating, waiting for something to happen. Ross looked over at me and we locked eyes, knowing what was coming.

"I'll wait for the most romantic part of the movie," on-screen Austin said.

Ross subtly took my hand as Ally said, "She'll be all cute and love-y,"

"I'll lean in, put my arm around her,"

"She'll nuzzle up, feeling butterflies,"

Somehow, Ross now had his arm around me, mimicking our positions on-screen, and I had my head on his shoulder. The strangest thing was, I was feeling butterflies in my stomach. Not little, nervous butterflies, but exciting, scary, unknown ones.

"My heart will be beating out of my chest," Austin said, as Ross unconsciously mouthed the words.

I smiled a little sadly.

"It'll be...perfect."

I couldn't concentrate on the episode anymore. I felt just like Ally, and it was scary. How was it that Ross could make me feel this way? And why him? Why did I suddenly like him, of all people? Where did these feelings even come from? The strangest thing was, it didn't even feel weird. It felt like it had always been this way, but I had just realized it. And thinking back, nothing had really changed. So had I liked Ross this whole time?

We were just friends, I knew that. He had said it himself. Multiple times. And I had always believed it, but I think secretly we were more than that. At least I felt more than that. But I always subconsciously ignored it.

But why did I have to realize now? Why now, when Ross and I were going to be alone together for another week, promoting the show instead of working on it? Why now, when the rumours of Raura were at their peak? Why now, when we could act casual instead of being obliged to be professional? Why now, when it would be so easy for me to lose control?

* * *

 **Author's note: I hope you liked it! (If not, constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated:)) The next update will probably take a while, since my robotics teams and bands start this week (choirs already started last week).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Honestly, I have realized that I have absolutely no time whatsoever for anything that isn't school related. I am pretty much am living at school now. Tip to everyone: if you can get spares, take at least one. It makes life a whole lot easier at school. And choose extra-curriculars wisely.**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

"Wake up, Laura!"

I opened my eyes slowly to see Ross leaning over me and watching me wake up. He grinned when he saw me wake up.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked as soon as I was fully awake. "Aren't you the one who likes to sleep in?"

"We have a busy day ahead of us!" he exclaimed, not really answering me. "We're going to the Cayman Islands!"

"Oh, right." I said, sitting up abruptly and almost knocking him over. "Sorry."

I wasn't exactly in the best mood considering that I had barely slept the night before. I was too busy worrying. I liked Ross? What did that mean? And what was I supposed to do about it?

"Come on, be more energetic!" he exclaimed, standing up at the foot of the bed. "Aren't you Laura? The eternally optimistic and energetic one?"

"It's morning!" I protested. "I just woke up! Give me a couple of minutes."

I silently pledged to myself that I would try my best to be my usual energetic self, so that Ross wouldn't suspect anything. I was an actress, I could pretend I had emotions that I didn't really feel.

"Okay, okay! But right after we eat breakfast, we have to leave the ship! We have a photoshoot in Grand Cayman!" he exclaimed.

I smiled. "That sounds fun! Okay, let's go have breakfast!"

He smiled, too. "Glad you're more energetic now. I was worried for a minute that something was wrong."

As he walked out the room, I smiled sadly. Sure, something was wrong, but I just had to deal with it. My mom was right. I couldn't ignore my feelings, there was no way that would work. I just had to accept it and keep my feelings in check. And hopefully I could move on.

I picked up my iPad to check my Twitter. I'd really not had a lot of time to check social media throughout the whole trip, since we'd always been busy doing things and there were other better things to do, anyways. Even so, I liked to stay updated on things.

The first thing I noticed was that I had two direct messages in my inbox. I decided to open them up first, since I had an overwhelming amount of other notifications. The first message was from Sky.

 _Sky: hi laura! idk if you're gonna see this but thanks for following me and see you sometime soon! ps tell ross who i am! idk if he'll notice me tho..._

I smiled and replied.

 _Laura: I will tell Ross! I'll make sure he notices you...he might not follow you but he'll know who you are if you mention him:) By the way, thanks for everything you said yesterday. I'm glad that there are people like you who really care about us, and I know that I really care about you! See you around!_

I didn't hesitate before I pressed _send_. Sky was an awesome girl, and I really did want to thank her. I guess I never really thought about it, but it was possible that, after the show ended, we might forget each other. It didn't seem possible now, but if R5 really became famous, especially with Ross's growing popularity, he could just ignore me forever.

Maybe I was being too pessimistic. Ross and I were great friends, that wouldn't change. Sure, maybe my feelings about him had changed a little, but that didn't mean that we couldn't still be friends. It was like Austin and Ally. They were still friends, no matter what became of their feelings for each other. That was exactly like us.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! Are you guys dating?"

It was the millionth time that we were asked the question. We were at the beach at Grand Cayman, working on our photoshoot, and we were constantly being questioned by people passing by, who recognized us.

"No, we're just friends!" I answered, trying not to sound annoyed or even hurt.

Normally, I might be a little annoyed. I was known to be a good-natured, patient person, but it really was annoying. But now, I had to try not to sound hurt. Hurt because I really did wish that it was possible. Possible for us to date, that is. But it wasn't. And I knew why, and I really did think that it was the right thing to do, but that didn't stop me from feeling the slightest bit heartbroken.

Ross just put his arm around my waist as the photographer, a professional young lady named Kate, kept taking photos of us, and I tried my best to concentrate on what we were doing instead of all the people passing by us and bombarding us with questions. We didn't have to answer, anyways.

"Laura, can you look here?" Kate said nicely.

"Sorry," I said, smiling and looking over at the camera.

It was my fault that I wasn't looking at the camera, I was really distracted. I still maintained my energetic facade, though, so I don't think Ross really noticed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little girl standing a bit behind Kate, watching us curiously. I didn't look at her directly, because I made myself focus on the photoshoot.

When I finally glanced over at the girl, I realized that it was Sky, and she was by herself.

"Hi, Sky!" I said, right after Kate had taken a picture and was setting up for the next.

"Sorry, I don't want to disturb your photoshoot, I'll leave now!" she said quickly, glancing over at Kate.

I smiled. "No, it's okay! Well, as long as it's okay with Kate. Kate's the photographer."

"Sky's my little cousin!" Kate said, surprising us both. "She's here because she loves photography, and she also loves Austin & Ally. When I got this job, she was super excited."

"That's so cool!" Ross exclaimed. "Are you sailing on the cruise, then?"

She shook her head. "I'm just here in Grand Cayman. I work in Florida, usually, so I've gotten a few Disney connections. I wasn't hired as a photographer onboard the ship, but they let me fly down here for the month."

"Cool!" Ross said, and then he paused, as if he was about to say something else.

"Guys, you should continue with your photoshoot!" Sky said suddenly. "Don't just stop to chat because I interrupted! I don't want to interrupt your work!"

She looked so concerned that we all laughed. We knew that it was fine if we went off track and chatted for a bit, in fact, it was good for us to get to know our photographers, especially if they weren't photographers who usually worked with us. But Sky, as a little kid, probably wouldn't know that. And that was okay, because kids could be kids. They were innocent and didn't have a care in the world.

Sometimes, I missed being a kid. Everything was fun, you played with your friends, and there was nothing to worry about. You could always talk to your parents, and I could always talk to Vanessa, even if she sometimes laughed at me. You always had friends to lean on, even if they weren't even reliable. And that was okay, because you were just kids. But being a grown-up isn't like that. I was technically only 17, so not even an adult, but we had jobs and responsibilities like adults. And Ross was always the friends that I could count on, the one I could talk to about anything in the world. But now I felt like I was hiding something from him.

I forced myself to smile for the next picture, trying not to let my sadness show. We had a lot on our shoulders as teenagers, and I felt like I was burdening myself even more by keeping a secret. But it was the only thing that I could do. It was best for everyone.

* * *

I signed another autograph, this time on someone's baseball cap. Ross and I were still in the Cayman Islands, and now it was afternoon. We were doing a meet-and-greet at the local beach club, so we would probably be seeing a lot of people that weren't on the cruise with us. Some of them didn't even know about Austin & Ally, but they heard that famous people would be there, so they came to see us.

By early afternoon, I was getting kind of tired, but not frustrated. I didn't get frustrated easily, especially not when it came to our fans. Even though they were the very reason for my fatigue, they were our fans and I appreciated them for supporting us whenever.

After signing yet another autograph for someone, I looked up to see that Joslyn and one person from her camera crew were standing off to the side from the line in front of us.

"Hi, Joslyn!" I waved to the camera as the next fan walked up to us.

"Don't mind me!" she called back, then said something quieter to the camera, which was probably just something about how we were doing a meet-and-greet.

Ross said hi to the next fan, who wore an R5 t-shirt, and I smiled. A lot of Austin & Ally fans became R5 fans after learning about Ross, and a lot of pre-existing R5 fans became Austin & Ally fans after seeing Ross promote the show. Like any show, we had haters, and one of the main things they said was that he was only using Austin & Ally to get fame for R5, but I knew that it wasn't true. He really did care about the show, even if he didn't say it all the time. There was a lot of pressure on him to fit the pop star image, but he also wanted to be true to himself. He cared about Austin & Ally, he really did.

He looked over at me, bringing me back to attention. "What are you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking about how awesome it is that we have Austin & Ally," I said, signing another autograph for another fan.

"We're really lucky," Ross replied simply, but I understood everything that he meant from those three words.

He wasn't really the talkative type, that was more like me. But the few words that he said always touched my heart more than I cared to admit, and he always had a way of communicating his deepest thoughts in only a few words. I rambled a lot when trying to say something meaningful, and Ross could do it so concisely that it didn't seem possible. We were, at times, polar opposites, him being cool and collected and me being very energetic and hyper, but we somehow worked well together.

I looked up to see that there were no longer any people lining up to get our autographs, only Pierre standing there to tell us that it was almost time to get back on the ship. Joslyn had already left to go back on the ship, and it was already evening.

"We have to go to dinner soon, back on the ship." Ross reminded me. "We should probably go."

I nodded as we followed Pierre back to the ship. Ross held my hand and swung my arm back and forth playfully. I smiled. We were flirty, there was no denying that. It was the reason that Calum and Raini always teased us on set. But it was always friendly, and never more than that, and I was okay with that. Even if I had feelings for Ross, I'd rather stay just friends than risk something going wrong.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me again as we walked towards the ship in the sunset on the beach.

"What makes you think I was thinking about something meaningful?" I asked, smiling at him.

"When you're not talking, you're thinking about something meaningful." he replied. "I know you, Laura."

I couldn't stop the smile from growing on my face. We really did know each other really well, it was almost absurd. And even though there might've been things that Ross didn't know about me, and things that I wouldn't really be willing to tell him, I still felt safe as ever around him.

I looked up to see that he was looking at me with an expression that I had seen before. It was the same expression that I'd seen on the first day that I'd met him, when we were waiting for the audition for Austin & Ally, as he was quietly strumming his guitar. It had already been two years, but the expressions were exactly the same. He was deep in thought, and also appreciating everything around him, and not a lot of people knew that he was a thoughtful person, but he really was.

And that was one of the reasons why I couldn't stop from falling for him.

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry if that chapter was terrible, I wrote it all at separate times so it might seem a little discombobulated. No matter how I edited it, it still seemed a bit disjointed.**

 **I probably won't update for a bit because I have tons of ideas for new oneshots and whatnot so I'll probably write those in the next few days/weeks but I'll try my best to write as much as possible (I have a lot of stuff to do though). Also I'm really busy. I thought school would be a good break from summer's intense music stuff, I was wrong.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: thanks if you're still reading this story! There are really only going to be a few more chapters (2-3 maybe). I'm also not going to be able to write for all of this week since I'm going on a school trip all week so the next chapter won't be up for a while. Not sure if you really care, so on with the story!**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

It was another new day. Another day, and who knew what this day would bring. Only a few more days left on our cruise, but for today, our ship had docked on the coast somewhere in Mexico, and now we were at the local beach club with Joslyn to do another interview.

"That new episode was intense!" she said. "Fans are going wild! What were your reactions when you saw the scripts?"

"I was really surprised, but also kind of happy." Ross replied. "I've kind of always thought that Auslly was pretty cool. It's really cliché, that's what it is. I'm a cliché kind of guy!"

I smiled, knowing exactly the type of romantic that Ross was. Some people might criticize the predictability of Austin & Ally, but it was just full of clichés. And we were both romantics, so we both loved it.

"Austin and Ally became such good friends," Ross continued, "and now comes the time when one of them develops feelings for the other that aren't reciprocated. It's a cliché kind of thing! It happens in real life, too, of course. And sometimes it doesn't work out."

I almost laughed out loud at the irony of the situation. I had developed feelings for Ross that, as far as I'm concerned, were most definitely not reciprocated. It was so ironic that it wasn't even funny anymore. I didn't even know whether to laugh or cry.

"What do you think, Laura?" Joslyn asked.

"Yeah, Ross is right," I improvised, "often someone develops feelings for another person that aren't reciprocated. It's when the two are friends that it gets complicated. Especially since it's probably pretty obvious that you like someone. Unless you're good actors."

I almost cringed when I blurted the last sentence. It was almost like I was trying to hint to Ross that I liked him.

"Oh, you know what that reminds me of..." Joslyn said, laughing. "Raura! Of course you two are such great friends, and great actors too! Fans are probably going crazy right now! Sorry if this gets annoying, which I'm sure it does, but I can't help it! I've joined the Raura ship! Literally!"

I couldn't help but laugh here. Everyone knew that I had a crazy sense of humor that I couldn't _not_ laugh at anything vaguely funny. It helped with my act of being "just friends" with Ross, though.

"That's kind of funny," Ross said. "Because you're actually sailing aboard the Raura ship!"

I rolled my eyes. He was always so quick to make jokes, but actually really slow to understand them. It didn't really matter, though. I made terrible jokes, but laughed at all of his. I wondered if it was because I actually thought he was funny. Or was it because I always liked him, so I just laughed at everything he said?

"Anyways," Joslyn said, "so you two ship Auslly now? Since you can say that because we already know that Ally likes Austin?"

I was about to reply but Ross talked first.

"Well, Austin still obviously likes Kira." Ross replied. "He just thinks of Ally as a friend, so he has no idea how she feels about him. And he also doesn't have any feelings for her. So, for now, I would say that I'm not really an Auslly shipper, but I hope everything works out for them."

Of course, we both knew how things would work out for them, but we couldn't tell Joslyn (or anyone else) about that.

"The next episode is called Campers & Complications," I said instead. "As the title says, it gets complicated. We can't really say much, but it is definitely complicated, and there are more feelings exposed. The next couple of episodes just circle around the theme of changing feelings."

"And don't forget that Austin and Ally are also musical partners," Ross added. "With Ally's new feelings, things are probably going to get complicated between them. As you could see from the last episode, Ally's not really the greatest actress. Austin's just oblivious."

"That's kind of funny, considering Laura's such a great actress!" Joslyn laughed. "Because she's playing a character who's not really a great actress!"

Ross smiled his half-smile that made my heart flutter when I saw it, and I did the same. Half-smile, that is. He always did that when he thought something was funny, because it was his way of trying not to be crazy and burst out laughing, but I was doing it because the situation itself just seemed really ironic. I was playing a character who wasn't a really good actress, but the only reason that Ross didn't suspect that I had feelings for him was because I was a good actress.

I sighed inwardly. I had to get over this. I couldn't work with Ross for another season - or two, since we had no idea how many seasons we would actually get - if I kept feeling this way. I would get over it, some way or another.

"Is the rest of the season going to circle around Auslly?" Joslyn asked.

"Well, Austin obviously doesn't have feelings for Ally at the moment, and as we said, it's complicated." I said, disliking how similar this sounded to my current, real-life predicament. "So, no, the rest of the season won't just be focusing on Austin and Ally's possible romantic pairing."

"It'll also focus on possible broadening careers," Ross added cryptically. "Ally's a songwriter, and Austin's a singer, but I think we'll get to see a bit of Ally trying singing and Austin trying songwriting. Maybe they'll be successful, maybe they won't. You'll have to wait and see!"

"Well, it sounds exciting regardless! What about the third season? I know you just got renewed, so you probably don't know much yet, but is there anything you can share about the future?" Joslyn asked.

I laughed. "Honestly, we _just_ found out before leaving for this trip, and we haven't been told anything, so our guess is as good as yours."

"Well," Ross continued, "we know more about what will happen throughout season 2, so maybe our guess is better than yours. But it's still our guess, not what we know for sure. I would probably guess that the third season probably has Austin with some new songs and bigger, widespread things happening, like maybe around the state, country, or even around the world, instead of just in Miami. But that's just my guess."

I nodded. "I would guess that too. Maybe even introducing some new love interests, but I have no idea."

"New love interests, that sounds controversial!" Joslyn laughed. "I'm sure most fans are hoping not!"

I laugh and shrug. "I guess so! We really don't know, though. Besides, it might be good for Austin and Ally to date other people, if they want to. I mean, they work together, so it might not be the best idea."

"Just like you two," Joslyn commented. "I get it, that makes sense."

Ross and I nodded, appreciating the fact that she actually understood what we'd been trying to say ever since the show started. Although my feelings may have changed, I still understood that we couldn't date. It just wouldn't work.

Yeah. It would never work.

* * *

 **That night**

 **Back on the ship**

I sat down on the bed and sighed. It had been a long day, and it would be an understatement to say that I was exhausted. Meeting fans, doing interviews, and having photos taken of us was fun, but it was really, really tiring. A long day at the studio was almost less tiring.

Ross walked out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but sweatpants (as usual), and came to sit next to me on the bed.

"You look tired," he said to me.

I laughed tiredly. "You think?"

He nodded. "I'm worried, I've never seen you this tired before."

"I'm fine, there's just a lot on my mind." I replied.

I really couldn't tell him _anything_ that was on my mind, though.

"Really? Like what?" he asked.

"Um..." I stalled. "Like...I mean, since we've been on this cruise, the fans have really been pressuring us to get together. I guess maybe you sense that too, but it's really taken a toll on me. I'm not really used to all this attention. And all these interviews and things that we're doing, it's really kind of tiring."

He nodded. "I get how you feel. The fans are awesome, but they can really exhaust you."

Oh, it wasn't the fans. It was myself. I was tiring myself out with worry. I knew it, and I tried not to let it happen. But I couldn't help myself. Most people didn't think that I could really be seriously worried about anything. I was happy, energetic Laura, right? But I was seriously worrying myself over Ross.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Do you ever think..." he said, before shaking his head and becoming silent again.

"What?" I asked.

"No, it's stupid." he replied.

"No, it's not." I countered. "I don't know what you were going to say, but you never say anything stupid."

He smiled a bit. "Thanks, but it's stupid."

"Just tell me," I said, moving closer to him. "Come on!"

"Fine," he sighed. "But it's stupid! Do you ever think...that they could be right?"

I frowned. "Who? And about what? That didn't make any sense."

"Do you think..." he repeated. "That the fans could be right?"

"About what?" I asked, still confused.

"About us," he replied.

"What?" I repeated, not being able to make sense of anything he was saying.

"I mean..." he sighed. "Do you think the fans are right that we like each other? Or, probably, will like each other? As more than friends, I mean. Or am I the only one getting that vibe?"

My jaw dropped and I was rendered speechless.

"Sorry, I didn't mean...I mean, I know we're just friends! I told you it was stupid!" he exclaimed in frustration. "Just...forget it."

"No, I..." I stumbled. "I mean, I'm just really surprised because I was thinking the exact same thing."

I blushed and he quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded. "It's natural, I guess. We obviously have really great chemistry, so they reasonably think that we like each other."

I blushed again. I had said too much.

"Are you implying that you like me?" he asked, almost laughing.

I didn't see what was so funny. I frowned.

"No..." I mumbled. "Maybe? I don't know. Actually, who am I kidding. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!"

My mouth seemed to be working on its own accord and not listening to any common sense, but it felt good to finally admit it to someone. Of course, I had to admit it to the person whose friendship I was risking by saying it.

He stared at me in what seemed to be surprise, but not disgust or worry. What? What was happening?

"Sorry. That was stupid." I mumbled.

He moved closer to me. "No, I don't think it was."

"What?" I said.

"No, that wasn't stupid." he repeated. "Because...I think I feel the same way."

"No," I whispered, eyes widening.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly.

"We...can't," I said, and I knew he understood me.

"I know," he replied. "But...just tonight?"

I knew what he was saying but I was worried about the consequences in the future. Would it just be better to forget everything and go back to being flirty friends?

"Okay," I said instead.

Before I could do anything else, his lips attacked mine. I gasped in surprise but I kissed him back. It was wrong, and I knew it. But it was just for the night. Then everything would go back to normal. We could pretend that nothing had happened. At least, that's what I was trying to convince myself of.

"Laura," he whispered, and my heartbeat quickened.

"Anything..." I muttered. "But just for tonight."

He kissed me harder and my stomach fluttered, and I knew where this was going, but I didn't care. Sure, I would be exhausted by the next day, but I didn't care. It was just one night, I kept telling myself. But somehow, I knew that it would go farther than that. And for once, I was okay with that.

* * *

 **Author's note: I hope you liked it! Yay! As I said before, I won't be able to write for the next week so the next chapter won't be up for a while. I hope you like this story so far and there are only going to be a few more chapters so while I'm gone constructive criticism is always appreciated!:)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: I'm finally back! I have no idea how long it's been but it seems like a long time. And thanks again if you're still reading this story. Anyways, here is the next chapter! I'm sorry if it's really bad.**

 **P.S. I kind of forgot about Pierre and Sky. So they're probably not going to show up at all anymore.**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

I woke up with my head lying on Ross's chest instead of on the pillow. I blushed, remembering the night before, then I shifted over to lie next to him instead of on top of him. In the process, I accidentally woke him up.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"That's okay," he replied, pulling me closer to him, thus rendering my efforts useless.

I smiled as I nuzzled my face in the crook of his neck and he hugged me. We were both technically awake, but we didn't have to do anything until later in the morning. Might as well sleep in, since we had stayed up so late the night before. Not that it wasn't worth it.

He kissed my forehead and held me tightly in a hug, and my heart fluttered a little. I could never get used to the little things that he did.

"Ross..." I mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"I know we said last night..." I stuttered, "that everything would go back to normal in the morning, and we would pretend nothing happened..."

I sensed him tensing up and I saw that he frowned. I sighed and sat up, and he groaned in protest.

"Now I'm starting to regret this," I sighed.

"No!" he exclaimed suddenly, sitting up beside me.

"Fine then," I said, "make sure I don't regret this. As soon as we walk out of this room, we're Ross and Laura, best friends and co-stars, and everything will be as it was before."

He nodded vigorously, probably trying to convince both himself and myself that it was possible.

"Okay," I said simply, before hopping off the bed.

"Fine, everything will go back to normal when we leave this room," he repeated, "but first, one more kiss?"

I blushed and nodded, which was all it took for Ross to pull me back on the bed and kiss me one last time. And this time, I didn't regret it at all.

* * *

 **Several hours later**

Somehow, Ross and I found ourselves at the fake Miami Beach. No, we weren't back in LA on the set of Austin & Ally, but we were simply on Disney's private island in the Bahamas, where a portion of the beach had been remodelled to look exactly like our Miami Beach set. It was relaxing, having something so familiar around us, but also brought back an uncertain feeling of stress associated with our jobs.

Dozens of pictures had already been taken of us, and dozens of fans had already approached us asking for autographs, but we only had one scheduled interview with Joslyn, who was just approaching.

"Hey, nice to see you two again!" she said, walking up to the two of us sitting on a beach chair under an umbrella, then sitting down on another chair facing us.

"Wow, I can't believe this trip is almost over!" she said as soon as the cameras turned on.

I nodded. "It's been a blast! I wish we could stay here for so much longer!"

"Well, since this is the last interview with you guys on this trip, let's make it count." she said.

We both nodded.

"Before I ask any specific questions, do you two have anything specific to say to your fans?" she asked.

"Well, I really want to thank our fans for being so supportive," I said. "It's really cool that there are so many of you who really care about the things that we do! Thanks for supporting the show, and thanks for supporting this ship!"

"The cruise ship, she means," Ross added quickly, and I blushed. "It was really cool that you guys could get us a cruise ship named after us! Although it's also cool that you want us to get together...yeah, honestly, that's pretty cool too!"

He laughed a little, so I did too, albeit rather awkwardly. Well, this interview was going well. It was probably the most awkward interview we had done in a long time. Maybe our most awkward interview to date.

"Yeah, so just thanks for being the best fans we could ever ask for!" I exclaimed, recovering my usual energetic and slightly (not extremely) awkward self.

"That's sweet!" Joslyn said. "Alright, we have some questions straight from the fans. Get ready! First question: how excited are you for season 3?"

"Um, so excited!" I exclaimed. "I can't wait to go back to LA and find out more about Austin and Ally's adventures! I'm more excited than all of our fans combined!"

Ross just nodded, thereby maintaining his usual quiet self. It was really funny how he was usually so quiet and I was so loud, especially since our characters were the opposite.

"I think I'm just as excited as you!" Joslyn exclaimed. "Okay, this next question might be a bit of a stretch to answer, but it'll be interesting. What should we expect at the end of this season? Any new characters? Any new subplots? Any cliffhangers?"

"Yeah, I think there are all three!" I laughed. "Well, in the next upcoming episode, Campers & Complications, there's a new character named Elliot. He's Ally's friend from camp! There will definitely be more subplots involving Ally's singing, but I can't say much. And the end of the season has a _huge_ cliffhanger. Well, not a cliffhanger per se, but I bet everyone will be asking, 'What's in the note?'"

Ross laughed, knowing exactly what I meant. Joslyn chuckled.

"What does that mean? What note? And what _is_ in it?" she asked, laughing.

"I can't tell you what that means!" I laughed. "It's just a note that Ally receives from one of her friends, but I can't say who. And to be very honest, even we don't know what's in the note! They never told us!"

"Sounds confusing!" she said. "Okay, so I have to ask a highly anticipated question. I'm very sorry, but all of the fans are dying to hear anything."

We both nodded, somewhat anticipating the question. "How did going on this trip affect the two of you? What did you learn about yourselves or each other?"

I know we both understood the implication. We couldn't _exactly_ tell the truth, though, so we had to stretch it a little. Like always.

"I think this trip brought the two of us much closer together than even before," I answered vaguely. "We got to meet amazing fans and visit amazing places, and we got to do it all together. It was a lot of fun, really. And it's all thanks to our amazing fans!"

I pointed and smiled at the camera.

"Aw, that's sweet!" Joslyn said. "What about you, Ross?"

"I totally agree with Laura," he replied. "Yeah. We really got to know each other a lot better than before, and that's saying a lot."

I looked over at him and I understood everything he was thinking. A look can say a lot, and in that moment, I knew that we both knew a lot more than we were willing to say out loud. We understood each other without words. And I knew that this trip had affected us in a way that we would remember for a very long time, maybe even forever.

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry if it was really bad. I know it was kind of short. I had initially planned on making this story longer, but even I got bored of writing it. So there's only going to be one more chapter as kind of an epilogue, and once again, I'm sorry if this was really bad. As usual, constructive criticism is appreciated, and I'll try to write the next chapter soon:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: Last chapter! I hope this will kind of tie together the whole story. Sorry for taking so long to update, especially since this chapter's so short. Thanks if you're still reading this, and a special thank you to Ross's Juliet because I know you're reading these chapters.**

 **I guess I don't really write for reviews, favorites, or follows. I write because I need somewhere to put my ideas and it's just fun, but it's pretty cool to know that there are people reading what I write:)**

* * *

 **Laura's POV**

I got on the plane feeling a little sad and more than a little anxious. We were about to fly back to LA after our trip, and that meant that we would go back to being strictly professional. It was a good thing, but also a bit nerve-wracking for me. Would we still be able to pretend that we were just friends? Would we be able to tolerate Calum's teasing? What if things went really wrong?

"You're worrying, aren't you." Ross sighed, turning to face me.

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

Even though we were on a private plane, that didn't mean that we were the only people there. There were a few other people, security personnel, and I felt like it would be awkward to have this conversation loudly when everyone could hear.

"Don't worry, we'll figure everything out when we get back to LA." he said.

"Where we'll just be friends," I added reluctantly.

He nodded. "We decided that back on the cruise. Feelings can change in a few years, let's just stay friends for now."

"Now I'm starting to regret everything that we did," I admitted with a blush.

His eyes widened. "That's not what I meant! Laura, I have more respect for you than that! You think I really-"

"Shh..." I interrupted. "You're being too loud."

"Sorry," he whispered. "But was I was going to say is, I wouldn't have done anything if I wasn't certain about my feelings for you. I really like you, Laura, but we both have to accept that we can't do anything for the next few years except stay friends."

"I know," I replied. "But promise that we'll stay friends even when the show ends?"

He smiled and my stomach fluttered. "I promise. And we can be more than friends, if you like."

He smiled again, more mischievously this time, and I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't deny the fact that his proposition sounded very good to me.

"Okay," I said, suddenly feeling more than a little tired.

I yawned and Ross laughed. The trip had really tired us both out, and planes always made me drowsy. The last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was looking at Ross, both of us smiling ecstatically.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

"Wake up, Laura, we're about to land back home!"

I woke up and opened my eyes to find my head resting on Ross's shoulder. I sat up and looked out the window to see the bustling city that I call home.

"Did I really sleep through the whole plane ride?" I asked, fully awake now.

He nodded. "You must've been really tired."

I laughed. "I was! Sorry, you must've been bored out of your mind!"

"Not really," he replied, taking a lock of my hair and twirling it on his finger absentmindedly. "I just watched you sleep."

I blushed, not exactly embarrassed, but just unused to the attention that he gave me. It felt nice, like I was all warm inside. It was nice knowing that he really cared about me.

"Back in LA," I mumbled. "We're back home."

"Where everything goes back to normal," he said wistfully.

I nodded sadly, but I knew that it was the only way. We couldn't risk our jobs, but more importantly to both of us, our friendship. And it wouldn't be right to be anything more than friends until we were nothing but friends.

"Okay, you can get off the plane now," the security guard said to us, before heading towards the cockpit, leaving the two of us alone.

We stood up and Ross held my hand before we walked to the exit of the plane, already hearing the commotion outside of the plane.

"Come to one of our concerts soon?" he asked.

I nodded. R5 was going on tour, since Austin & Ally had taken a break from filming, and I was dying to see them perform sometime.

"Of course." I replied with a smile.

He looked back at me a grinned, before quickly planting a kiss on my cheek. I looked at him, for once not feeling in the least embarrassed or guilty, and this time he blushed. I laughed.

It might not have been the most ideal of circumstances, and it could be a long road ahead of us, but I knew that some way and somehow, it was all going to work out for us.

* * *

 **Author's note: I'm sorry it was really short. I really didn't have much to write but I didn't want to leave it at the last chapter without wrapping it up somehow. Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! And if you really didn't, constructive criticism is appreciated:)**


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